Exodus continues

An Associated Press item Monday caught our attention not because it was breaking news, but because it is a continuation of bad news for Michigan. The story "Michigan one of two states to lose population."

At one time Michigan enjoyed an upper tier ranking of state's with increasing population, but now we have been relegated to a tie for 50th place with Rhode Island.

Rhode Island? How is that possible?

Even the Lions don't have any competition for their last place finish!

Utah is now the nation's fastest growing state with its population climbing from July 07 to July 08 at a 2.5% annual rate according to new population estimates from the Census Bureau. Arizona is the second fastest growing state followed by Texas, North Carolina and Colorado.

Last year's fastest growing state was Nevada, which has fallen to 8th place. Nevada is reported to have been one of the four fastest growing states for each of the last 23 years.

California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois follow in that order in population rank.

One of the sad aspects of this exodus from Michigan is that the state is losing some of its brightest and best in pursuit of employment. A Christmas wish this year would be a reverse in that trend in the future.

On another note, it was reported that Gov. Jennifer Granholm will not be taking a position within the Barack Obama administration, but will continue her final term as Michigan's governor. It's your choice whether that's bad, or good news.